Nov 13, 2012

As the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup draws near, Indonesia coach
Nil Maizar expects players to give their all, starting with Wednesday’s
exhibition match against East Timor at Gelora Bung Karno in South
Jakarta.

Only 22 of the 23 players in the national squad will
make it to the tournament, with the coach expected to announce the final
list for the cup after Friday’s match against Cameroon at the same
stadium.

“These two games will be a good build up for us before
playing in the tournament [the AFF Cup] and I hope all players keep
showing their best,” the 42-year-old Nil said on Tuesday. “I will
announce the final roster after the match against Cameroon.”

These
will be the last warm-up games for the Merah Putih before it goes to
Kuala Lumpur to play in Group B of the AFF Cup, where it will be up
against Laos, Singapore and Malaysia. The Group A draw, featuring
Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines and Myanmar, will compete in Bangkok.

The top two teams from each group will enter the last-four round of the biennial regional tournament.

Nil said he expected the team to beat East Timor, which would give it a morale boost in the lead-up to the AFF Cup.

Indonesia’s
last victory in an international match was a 5-0 defeat of minnows
Brunei Darussalam in Bandar Seri Begawan in September, which ended the
squad’s 13-match losing streak.